My name is Majid Al-Bahadli. Since I have become an American citizen I have voted in every election and have participated in anti-war demonstrations and peace rallies, but this is the first election where I have been totally committed to making a difference in this country. I believe that if Barack Obama becomes president, we can finally end this terrible war in Iraq and present a new face to the rest of the world that America can be proud of. I am from the city of Baghdad in Iraq, and I feel like I am always being pulled in two directions when I talk to my family and my friends in Iraq. I try to defend Americans as people, and defend our political system, while at the same time I have to answer for what we have done to the Iraqi people by our policies both now and in the past. I have a hope that a President Barack Obama could set a new course in dealing with other countries, especially in talking to our “enemies” and help bring about new coalitions that can work together to create a more stable, open, and peaceful world.
I have been inspired by Barack Obama to believe that each individual can make a change. In my Iraqi American community I have worked to convince people to register to vote as democrats, and to support Barack Obama. To help reach out to them, and to the whole Arab American community, I came up with several Obama button designs using English and also Arabic writing. Once I put them up on the internet, Arab Americans and others who were interested in them contacted me from New York, Pennsylvania, California, Washington DC and as far away as Hong Kong. People have carried my buttons to other countries such as Egypt, Morocco, and United Arab Emirates. This helps activate the Arab American community in this country to talk about and endorse Barack Obama, and increases his stature abroad. One of my most popular buttons has Barack Obama written in Hebrew, Arabic and English. I have actually managed to have Arabic people wear Hebrew lettering and have defended my button as a statement for the peace process. I have since come up with many other button designs, created for all the different kinds of people who support Barack Obama. I have about 22 different designs in all and I have made thousands of buttons from them. They all promote Barack Obama and raise money for his campaign--though I have given hundreds away. I have stood on street corners selling them and talking to people about Barack Obama and went to Oregon recently to register voters there. I have also worked making buttons with the 43rd District and we managed to send over 10,000 buttons to Pennsylvania. We gave 2000 buttons out when we canvassed in Oregon and are working to make more for them and for Montana as well. OregonBus Trip: Registered voters in Portland
I have actually been politically active my whole life, but until I became an American citizen I was not free to express myself. I was raised in a political family, and was surrounded by political discussions at home for as long as I can remember. When I was 13years old, in 1980, my uncle and cousins were executed because they worked against Saddam’s regime which had taken over in 1979. Many other family members were executed or imprisoned also for their political activities. In 1991, when I was 23 years old, Saddam invaded Kuwait. At that time, the Americans encouraged those of us who were against Saddam to rise up against him. I participated in that uprising. When the Americans decided to pull back and leave Saddam in power, I was forced to leave the country or face certain death from the Iraqi government. Over 150 thousand people lost their lives when Saddam’s armies punished those who had fought against him. Iraqi police hunted for me for days and I barely managed to escape them. Finally, I sneaked through an Iraqi checkpoint and ran straight into the arms of an enormous American soldier and surrendered to him. He arrested me, and I was sent to a prison camp in Saudi Arabia for POW’s and was later classified as a political refugee which is correct. For almost five years I lived in the middle of the desert in a broken tent with thousands of others who also resisted Saddam’s tyrannical and unjust government. Eventually I arrived in Seattle as a legal resident alien, and later became an American citizen. So my story, like so many people’s story, has everything to do with the consequences of American policies in the world. America supported Saddam; America invaded Iraq in 1991; America pulled back and let Saddam regain power; America saved me from certain death from Iraqi police. Then, America sent me to live in a prison camp and finally America adopted me and gave me a new home. Seattle is now my real home, where I can have a vote and a voice and help contribute to making this country the best it can be both for its own citizens and for the rest of the world who are so affected by America’s behavior. I know well how damaging it is when people do not have the right to participate freely in a political process and I am honored to have come this far.
Dear Majid,
It was a pleasure to spend time with you, and it literally puts tears in my eyes to know that the millions of displaced in Iraq will have a voice at our national convention. To think that everything you've been through has led you to this point, and that yours and their voices will finally be heard by the most powerful people in the world is amazing. You are a gift.
Lori Macklin Obama Grassroots Organizer Jefferson County
your story is truly inspirational to people like me who have only known living blissfully ignorant in the US. I stand in awe of you--someone who can love what America offers so much after this country has dealt you such a rotten deck of cards. It's amazing how hard you are working to make the change we NEED to see in the US & US Policy. Shanna Sawatzki
You are a great Obama supporter. We need you as a delegate to tell the true story of Iraqi people, both here and overseas. Your buttons are the greatest. Here in Everett you helped provide most of the buttons and they were a great fundraiser. You have to be chosen as a delegate. I know if you go I will be well represented
Dear Majid, Each time I saw you, you had a gigantic smile upon your face. It was wonderful. I want to congratulate you and your other National Delegates for doing such an excellent job vetting the newly elected candidates and for running such great break-out meeting to hear us. I am in no way whatsoever disappointed for not going to the national convention, rather I left feeling so uplifted and pleased from meeting so many wonderful people and from listening to so many inspiring stories of the good they are doing. What a great opportunity we have all been given.
Thank you for everything that you are doing for all of us. I am so happy to have you representing us! My best regards, Sharon
SAY HELLO! Leave me a comment below, or send me a private message or compliment!
Your story is amazing. I'm so glad you are sharing it with us. I've never communicated with an Iraqi before ... rather an American of Iraqi descent. My own family history is that my grandparents came to this land to escape Kaiser Wilhelm's idea of how to make a better world : subjugate and dominate your "neighbors " with military force. But first, conscript the young men to be warriors. My ancestry wanted no part of that, so they came to America. Two generations later, Americans get conscripted to fight the Germans. Of course, this was a "just " war , because Hitler was a madman. (And from what I've read , I agree that Hitler needed to be stopped. ) One of my reasons for supporting Obama is that he seems to me to be more likely to pursue a more thoughtful negotiation process for resolving international disputes. Majid, I admire your passion for politics. And I admire your ability to survive circumstances of extrodinary difficulty. I can hardly imagine living in a tent in the desert for five years! Goodluck on your journey.
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Thank you for the friend request. I don't see your name on the list of delegates campaigning to go on to Denver, are you hoping to go on? If so, I would love to hear more about you. I would like to continue on--I don't have the list of qualifying experiences many of the candidates running do, but I feel it is the purpose of democracy to represent all of the population. Many young people won't be going on to the national convention because we haven't yet figured out how the process works--but I am learning a great deal as I go, and hope to be continually involved as I add years to my life. The experience I have had so far has been invaluable to me. If you have questions about why I'd like to represent Washington at the National convention, I would love the opportunity to answer them. Thank you for taking the time to read my profile!
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